Current container systems make it possible to collect blood from a donor or otherwise collect biological fluid. Such systems often include a collecting container, usually a bag, connected to a collecting device by a tube. In addition, the systems may include a sampling container, usually also a bag, intended to receive the first milliliters of blood collected. The sampling container is connected to the tube in such a manner that it is filled after the collecting container is filled.
Filling the sampling bag prior to filling the collecting bag has certain advantages. First, it reduces the risk of contamination of the blood in the collecting bag from bacteria or other foreign substances on the skin of the donor. The first milliliters of blood taken, which are more likely to contain bacteria and foreign substances, are sent into the sampling bag rather than into the collecting bag. Second, use of a sampling bag makes it possible to take samples before the sample or collection bag is completely filled, and consequently not to waste time. Finally, during blood collection, the loss of blood volume for the donor may be compensated for by the addition of plasma. This causes the measured hematocrit of the blood to be lower if the sampling bag is filled, or samples are otherwise taken, after the collecting bag is filled. Consequently, the hematocrit count obtained using such later collected samples may be inaccurate.
After having collected the blood from a donor and before it is transfused into a patient, the blood contained in the sampling bag can be systematically analyzed in order to determine the rhesus group, to effect a hematocrit count and to detect any contamination such as viruses, bacteria or other elements foreign to the blood of the donor.
Although useful, these systems and methods as currently used for collecting blood from a donor do have drawbacks. First, the fact that the closure device situated on the tube connected to the sampling bag can be released could cause it to be opened by the user in order to send the blood remaining in the sampling bag to the collecting bag. This may occur by accident, or through deliberate action, for instance, if the collecting bag is found to be insufficiently filled after disconnection from the arm of the donor. Therefore the reversible closure of the sampling bag tube presents a significant risk of faulty use. This faulty use may negate the contamination containment benefits of the sampling bag and may also lead to other problems.
Moreover, the reversible closure device situated on the tube connecting the needle and the collecting bag does not provide a sufficient seal to be able to dispense with a welder at the location where the blood is collected. Blood collection, particularly at temporary locations, would be more time and cost efficient if welding at the collection location were not required.